The 1976 ABA All Star Game was the ninth and final American Basketball Association All-Star Game, played at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, on January 27, 1976. This time, the league abandoned the usual East vs. West format it used from the 1967-68 season onward and instead had the league's first-place team at the All Star break face off against a team of ABA All Stars.[1] The change was decided given the league's reduction from ten to seven teams and from two divisions to only one.[2] At the All-Star break, the Denver Nuggets were in first place,[1] which was convenient as the Nuggets had also been selected to host the game in McNichols Arena. Kevin Loughery of the New York Nets coached the All-Stars while Larry Brown led the Denver Nuggets. This was the second year in a row that Loughery and Brown coached against each other in the ABA All-Star Game. (The Nuggets went on to finish the regular season in first place at 60-24 (.714), but after beating the Kentucky Colonels 4 games to 3 in the ABA Semifinals the Nuggets lost in the 1976 ABA Finals to the New York Nets, 4 games to 2.)[3]
The 12 All-Stars originally selected included the Nuggets' David Thompson, Bobby Jones, and Ralph Simpson. Coaches replaced them on the all-star squad with Maurice Lucas of Kentucky, Larry Kenon of the San Antonio Spurs , and Don Buse of the Indiana Pacers.[2]
Pre-game entertainment was provided by Glen Campbell and Charlie Rich.[4]
Halftime of the All Star Game saw the first-ever Slam Dunk Contest, which was won by Julius Erving of the New York Nets (who took off from the free throw line for one of his dunks[5]) over Denver's Thompson, Artis Gilmore of Kentucky, and both George Gervin and Larry Kenon of San Antonio.[6] The National Basketball Association later adopted the Slam Dunk Contest as part of its All-Star Game events starting in 1984 (also hosted by the Denver Nuggets). Denver's 52 fourth quarter points was a record for an ABA All-Star Game and capped a 144–138 comeback win.[4] It was the highest-scoring game in ABA All-Star history. Thompson was named the MVP.[1]
This was the final ABA All Star Game, due to the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976.
| Score by Periods: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Denver | 32 | 23 | 37 | 52 | 144 |
| All-Stars | 31 | 25 | 41 | 41 | 138 |
All-Stars
| Player, Team | MIN | FGM | FGA | 3PM | 3PA | FTM | FTA | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PFS | PTS |
| Brian Taylor, NYA | 29 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Artis Gilmore, KEN | 27 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 |
| Julius Erving, NYA | 25 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 23 |
| James Silas, SAA | 23 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 20 |
| Billy Knight, INA | 23 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
| Billy Paultz, SAA | 20 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Larry Kenon, SAA | 20 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| Ron Boone, SSL | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| George Gervin, SAA | 16 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Maurice Lucas, KEN | 14 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Don Buse, INA | 14 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Marvin Barnes, SSL | 13 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Team Totals | 240 | 56 | 104 | 2 | 7 | 24 | 29 | 51 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 138 |
Denver
| Player, Team | MIN | FGM | FGA | 3PM | 3PA | FTM | FTA | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PFS | PTS |
| Ralph Simpson, DEN | 37 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| David Thompson, DEN | 34 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 29 |
| Dan Issel, DEN | 31 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 |
| Bobby Jones, DEN | 29 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 |
| Claude Terry, DEN | 25 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| Chuck Williams, DEN | 22 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Byron Beck, DEN | 20 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| Gus Gerard, DEN | 17 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12 |
| Monte Towe, DEN | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Roger Brown, DEN | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| James Foster, DEN | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 240 | 52 | 112 | 1 | 3 | 39 | 50 | 55 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 144 |
- Halftime — All-Stars, 56-55
- Third Quarter — All-Stars, 97-92
- Officials: Norm Drucker and Ed Middleton
- Attendance: 17,798.
References
- 1 2 3 Hollander, Zander; Sachare, Alex (1989). The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia. Villar Books. p. 232. ISBN 0394580397. Retrieved May 21, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- 1 2 "Erving, Gilmore head ABA's All-Star team". Fort Collins Coloradoan. AP. January 20, 1976. p. 12. Retrieved May 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Remember the ABA: 1975-76 Regular Season Standings and Playoff Results Archived 2010-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
- 1 2 Remember the ABA: American Basketball Association All-Star Games Archived December 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Dr. J dunks
- ↑ The One That Started It All
- The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia. Villard Books. 1994. p. 260. ISBN 0-679-43293-0.
- basketball-reference.com. "1976 ABA All-Star Game". Retrieved September 11, 2013.